Whittie

In this photo you can see what I did with mine to stop them coming loose, I put nyloc nuts and longer bolts on the inside of the joints:

Hi Galderdi, The CV's mount to the original zed stub axles on the diff end so you would need to either get stub axles with the same bolt pattern or still buy the custom axles you talk about.

Wow, I have to direct you?! Just view all his uploaded vids by date, the cheerleaders were updated just after his fast drag runs. 12 is crazy, but when he talks about 'power shifting' in his threads, what he really means is flat changing!!!! Bye-Bye gearbox!

Hi Chris, My understanding is that the 240z is not so much of an issue as the 260/280 because the front spring perch's are at a higher point up the strut so do not cause a fouling issue with the rim, so it should fit fine. The rear clears struts without an issue, so it would be the same on the 240z too. Worst come to worst you can just run a 5mm spacer, that is perfectly acceptable, it's when you start going 10mm+ that spacers are really not that great. From my understanding you won't have an issue at all with these rims, and the slight + offset reduces how much roll you need on the guards to fit the tyres under. If you still are not sure, find someone in Canberra who can lend you some wheels for you to do a fit test with, that would quell all doubts.

Cheers Rich, Yeah 8" minimum is the only way to go for a race car. I was running 205's on a 6.5" rim so the extra grip should be phenomenal, plus the Rota's do look WAY better than the performance rims. For $1120 delivered there is NOTHING else around that competes with the Rota's from Otomoto. The only thing better looking in my opinion (Rota Grid's depending on car style) is a genuine Watanabe, but I got a quote for $3300 from the local (Perth, same as me so should be $0 shipping cost) distributor, almost 3 times the cost of the Rota's!!! To be honest tho, I was happy with the 205 tyre (and the 225 on the 7.5" rim) cause I didn't need to cut/pump/roll anything and was still ahead of the competition, but the competition has started running 225's on an 8" rim and have picked up about 1 second, so it's time for me to follow (instead of lead!) and go to a wider rim. I'm sure the result will be well worth the effort!

Haha, you need to ignore all the "Cheerleader" vids (or watch them, your choice ) and scroll to the very bottom of his upload list to see the 240z vids

I'll keep an eye out for the compound on the red's now. I haven't bought pads for a while (Stockpiled) but will look out for it with the next lot. I'll find out what compound the GSL's are Gareth and get back to you, my Dad actually picked them up

Nice find! I had to make these up, and it was a lot more money and effort than $3 each!!

Wow Gareth, I've had the opposite experience!! I run the GSL on the fronts and after 3 days at bathurst my whole car was a different colour! I would say the Greens and Reds have had the best pad life, performance and minimum dust of all the brakes I've used! I probably wont use the GSL again due to dust and VERY quick wear, although a good pad otherwise, cheap too, which is where I think the EBC fall down. BTW, I have commodore brakes and skyline rears now, hilux previously (with green's), but brakes are brakes really for a street car.

205 will be fine, little small but not noticeably. Continentals are great tyres I hear, I would jump too!

Here is a 195/45/16 on an 8" rim http://www.tyrestretch.com/8_195_45_R16/ And a 205/45/17 on an 8.5" rim http://www.tyrestretch.com/8.5_205_45_R17/ Not quite the same side wall height you will have, but as close as I could find. IMO, I think tyre stretch just looks silly and depending on how modified you car is will detract from it over-all, negating the expense you put into nice looking wide rims. If you can't fit the 'correct' tyre size without rolling the guards I'd be surprised. As for dangerous, probably not, it's not that much stretch. Something like this would be dangerous: That is a 175 on a 10" by the way....

Hey Adam, I have used them on a couple of cars now and love them for a street car. On my zed however, I've found that as I do more longer track work, the green's just couldn't keep up with the heat after 4 or 5 flying laps and I now run red on the rear and race pads on the front. For sprints, hillclimbs and on the street however, I would and do reccomend them. Red are also good but don't work 100% when cold, which makes them not very suitable for a car that spends most of it's time on the road.

oops I was typing from my phone, thats my excuse!

Not for me either, it seems to just be a generic web address from like a flash based website so it doesn't take you to exactly what you want cause the address bar doesnt change as you navigate the site. If that makes sense, hard to put in words.... Try this link to the article. I would say the original link was to a gallery of checked photos which is why it didnt work. Just click the photos you want to view and then choose open for the same effect. http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/article.cgi?section=events&article=zcarnatls2009

I ordered them on Tuesday afternoon and they were in Perth, at my door, by lunch time Friday, talk about amazing service from TNT. Sorry Otomoto, but shipping anything by truck across the country in 48 hours is still more impressive than having them ready for delivery 1 hour after payment is made, if not by much. But enough suspense, the pics we’ve all been waiting for: Awesome! Of course I had to take a couple of clearance shots whilst I was at it. The fronts clear by a significant amount to the struts, which was rather surprising. Please remember that I have the commodore brakes and the rotors have more negative offset than standard brakes (out from the centre of the car, or away from the suspension to make it clear), so these pics won’t be representative of standard discs even tho I am still running standard suspension. I suspect it will JUST clear with standard brakes otherwise you would likely need a 3-5mm spacer to get things to fit. I did some jiggling around and measured 5 1/12th inches of backspace (12.91cm)from the mounting face of my rotors, so that would explain why the 8 inch rims fit so well (8” rims with a +4 offest = 10.56cm back space, but the outer edge of the rim sits a bit further in than the tyre mounting face), clearance is around 8-10mm to the strut and I’m not suspecting any surprises when I put some 225 tyres on the rims. The outside edge of the rim on the other hand, that will need some adjustment: With the suspension at full droop on a jack you’re looking at a rim that sticks out about 15mm past the guard. Even tho the rim will come inwards as the suspension slack is taken up a good roll will be required to fit these under without rubbing. The guards don’t need flaring, but I suspect more than just a normal roll and more like a ‘buff’ of the guards will be required, however, it should still keep the good looking lines of the car without spoiling anything like a flare does in my opinion. I have a suspicion that the guard in this photo has actually been pushed IN at some stage of its life because the guard on the passenger side of the car has more clearance than it even tho I haven’t rolled anything on the car. Of course, nothing like so much of an issue on the rear, the struts clear by miles As well as not causing any issue with the suspension at all

17 August 2010 Wow, a busy few days! I can now sympathise with people who do not update their blogs for weeks and months at a time, if you’re busy working on cars it makes it hard to keep updates coming, lucky for me I’ve got tonight off so I can write up a bit of a post for you guys. I think I should start with a disclaimer: This will be one LONG post and apologies in advance for the 10,000 photos ahead. After picking up seats on Monday I had a couple days off before the car returned to me on Wednesday minus 1 motor and so on Thursday I got started on striping the car. Along the way I took around 180 photos of things so that I know how it all goes back together! Even with all the photos I think it is still going to be one daunting task that I’m not particularly looking forward to going through. It will be worth it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s going to be a long way from pleasant. I mentioned last update about the grease in the car, well it turns out to be even more ‘everywhere’ than I previously suspected and I’ve decided I don’t really want to do it! I did the ring around and found a guy who is willing to steam clean the car and rekons he can do it in 3-4 hours, did I launch at that offer or what. Just to show you guys what he’s up for check out the grease in the rear quarter panels again: That is all the way through EVERY panel in the car! Don’t believe me, have a little look, a good look, at these pics and the hidden gold in the background: I told you all that 100kg would be a walk in the park! It was pretty amazing actually watching the car transform from a low, sleek race car to ‘tank spec’ during the time I worked on it. I reckon the car has risen about 4 inches since I started just due to pulling the weight out of the car, it was awesome to watch transform! The doors, bonnet and guards had the biggest impact of course, but everything adds up for sure. After a stressful day on Thursday the day was coming to an end and I had to admire what I’d done and also found some time for a little art work: None too shabby for just a screw and a point and shoot camera. I had a couple of surprise deliveries on Friday: My 8m roll of Alcantara in black and my new Momo, Suede covered steering wheel, but by far the most exciting was 4 boxes from Otomoto in Sydney. I ordered them on Tuesday afternoon and they were in Perth, at my door, by lunch time Friday, talk about amazing service from TNT. Sorry Otomoto, but shipping anything by truck across the country in 48 hours is still more impressive than having them ready for delivery 1 hour after payment is made, if not by much. But enough suspense, the pics we’ve all been waiting for: Awesome! Of course I had to take a couple of clearance shots whilst I was at it. The fronts clear by a significant amount to the struts, which was rather surprising. Please remember that I have the commodore brakes and the rotors have more negative offset than standard brakes (out from the centre of the car, or away from the suspension to make it clear), so these pics won’t be representative of standard discs even tho I am still running standard suspension. I suspect it will JUST clear with standard brakes otherwise you would likely need a 3-5mm spacer to get things to fit. I did some jiggling around and measured 5 1/12th inches of backspace (12.91cm)from the mounting face of my rotors, so that would explain why the 8 inch rims fit so well (8” rims with a +4 offest = 10.56cm back space, but the outer edge of the rim sits a bit further in than the tyre mounting face), clearance is around 8-10mm to the strut and I’m not suspecting any surprises when I put some 225 tyres on the rims. The outside edge of the rim on the other hand, that will need some adjustment: With the suspension at full droop on a jack you’re looking at a rim that sticks out about 15mm past the guard. Even tho the rim will come inwards as the suspension slack is taken up a good roll will be required to fit these under without rubbing. The guards don’t need flaring, but I suspect more than just a normal roll and more like a ‘buff’ of the guards will be required, however, it should still keep the good looking lines of the car without spoiling anything like a flare does in my opinion. I have a suspicion that the guard in this photo has actually been pushed IN at some stage of its life because the guard on the passenger side of the car has more clearance than it even tho I haven’t rolled anything on the car. Of course, nothing like so much of an issue on the rear, the struts clear by miles As well as not causing any issue with the suspension at all Although perhaps that is not really all that surprising considering I still used to run standard 14” rims on the street. With 17 wheels for the car now however, it’s time to work out what to keep and what to sell and I think the standard rims will find a new home given all the options that I have. Perhaps someone rebuilding/owning an original 260 might be interested in them to complement their otherwise complete car. Whilst not completely correct, these would also go great with an original 240z. I’m just looking back now and regretting now not getting a pic of the clearance to the guards on the back, but I suspect it’ll be a better fit than the front, which is rather good, so no need to worry. All in all, stripping the car was a rather rewarding experience, I finally feel like I know something about these cars that I didn’t before, especially the fact of how simple these cars are! I swear, a 10mm socket, a medium blade and Philips screw driver will have 90% of the car apart! It was a trying exercise but I managed to fully strip the car in 4 days, so I was impressed with that given the amount of time I spent doing other things. My camera went flat on Sunday but I took this photo on Saturday night and you can see the progress I made in 3 days Of course the experience wasn’t without it’s trials, I have found more rust than I was suspecting, including some at the back of the passenger frame rails that looks like it’s been patched badly in the past and a HUGE amount of surface rust in the drivers floor due to 3 years of a leaking door I could never track down to a point source and still eludes me along with the rust in the rear hatch that I knew was there. The dash hasn’t had the carpet cover taken off in years and it has blistered and boiled in the sun, so that’ll need extra attention to. I had a great time along the way tho and ingenuity won out over common sense a few times. One in particular I couldn’t let go and so took photos. I present to you the almost longest ¼” ratchet drive extension I’ve ever seen: Suprisingly, this extension was fully self-supporting and didn’t actually need supporting without falling apart! And the reason for its construction, the pedal box: Thankfully I didn’t have to resort to including the uni joints as extra extension as things would have got REALLY interesting if I’d done that, I think I almost broke the ¼” drive as it was using the ¼” to ½” adapters that I made up from a ¼”-3/8” and then a 3/8” to ½” adapter. It was effective tho, so that is something to say about the quality of the Sidchrome products I used! Before I close out I would just like to say one thing: “Thank (Insert Deity name) for zip lock bags!” These have hopefully saved my existence when I have to put the car back together. I count around 50 bags all labelled for different parts of the car, all with identical looking bolts. Am I glad or WHAT that I decided it might be worth the effort. If there is anything I can recommend to future zed builders: capture and label all bolts, screws, washers etc so you know where they go again when you are done! The photos have also proved to be a life line in trying to work out what order those screws go in even tho I know what they belong to, just take photos of everything. If you think “Hmm, that could be interesting to put back together” take a photo, believe me I haven’t started putting the car back together yet and already I am very thankful for just a cheap point and shoot camera to keep a record of things. Well, that’s it for now. This week I have to just do a few tidy up things, like scrape off all the tar from the cabin (YAY ) before the car gets steam cleaned next week. Then it’s fuel tank and brake lines out for sand blasting before going to the panel beater in around 4 weeks. Bring on the rebuild

Hey All, Just wondering if anyone knows where is the best place to get a rubber kit for a 77 260z. I don't need everything as I bought a stack a few years ago but I do need quite a few (cowl, some door parts, headlights, tail lights, hatch) and suspect a full kit would work out cheaper. Does anyone do rubber kits for decent prices? MSA have everything but you're looking at a fairly high shipping cost from them (I got quoted $250 to ship a rear deck mat and center console arm rest!!), so I would rather something local if it can be found (All Z Parts does stuff and I used him last time, but the OEM parts are pretty expensive from memory). If you have bought rubbers in the past and can recommend someone please chime in!

No! You must really love the build Rev, how about the result?! Only a thief would pay less than 30 for this!

Hi Benny, There are certainly plenty of reasons to get them, They are FIA approved, fire resistant material, fairly light, bottom and side mount, fairly wide in the bum room. The issue I had with them was that they are a tube frame construction. Now, it's not that it's made of steel that was a bad thing but that the seat base is sprung, not solid and so you find yourself sitting VERY low and then they have this big cushion right under your legs. That big cushion covers a steel bar and I can imagine that as the seat wears out, that cushion will expose the hard steel bar which would be very uncomfortable. I also didn't like the way my legs sat up on that cushion. Instead of having a solid base under your legs you sit on the sprung part of the seat on the back of your bum and then are unsupported until your legs are on that cushion, and considering the weight on that point load on your bum and your legs I could imagine on long trips that it would cut circulation and hurt. Also, given how far away the peddles are in the zed and how close the steering wheel is, the fact that the seat forces you to have a large bend in your legs would mean sitting uncomfortably close to the steering wheel. At the end of the day comfort is a personal preference and you need to find a store and just sit in a heap of seats, which is how I came to this conclusion. At the end of the day I was happy to spend another $200 a seat to get something more supportive and comfortable for when I do need to be in the car for long periods of time.

9 August 2010 It’s been a while, but I’m back! Back in town that is, and no mucking around here! To follow up on last week’s update, Dad made it to the track on the Sunday and got some times…. In the midst of all the excitement, a few things happened. In qualifying he was caught up in traffic and posted a 72.8s lap, very good. Following the event tho, Dad thought “Hmm 7k rev limit seems high, don’t think it’s supposed to be there…” and so adjusted it down to 6500rpm. Out for the second run and he thinks to himself “Hmm, rev cut seems early, oh well, keep going”, he comes in and lo-and-behold, the rev limit has been set to 5500rpm, not 6500rpm, and yet he STILL did a 71.8s lap, equal to his PB!! Talk about good suspension upgrade. Unfortunately the day didn’t get any better and on run number 2, the second stage rev cut played up and the car wouldn’t rev at all above idle and so Dad missed the event and then on the last event of the day he hadn’t changed the tyre pressures and yet the track was 20 degrees hotter so say hello to marshmallow tyres! Following the rev cut mishap Dad circulated at 71.8’s all day. Either way, an equal PB lap with a 5500rpm rev cut instead of 7000rpm and a loss of around 30 useable horse power, bring on super quick laps when the rebuild is finished! Getting in to the swing of things after returning home from work, I dropped the car off at Osborne Park Service Centre today for them to pull the motor and give it a freshen-up. I wasn’t going to touch the motor other than deglaze the bore and new rings and bearings, but Tus rekons with all the advance the car is currently running that it means some more compression HAS to be on the list, plus a few other things, he thinks a 30hp gain is not unbelievable, how can I argue with that…. So much for leaving the motor alone, but hey, who’s complaining =D Also went to the panel beater today and it looks like the car will be in his workshop in 4 weeks or so. In that time I have to fully strip it, clean it and get it sand blasted. I know right, I said “clean” the car before sand blasting, well, check out ‘rust proofing’ a car in England in the 70’s: That, if you haven’t worked it out yet, is grease… It’s not pretty and it’s going to be a prick to remove, but hey, no rust! If anyone has any ideas on getting rid of the grease behind the suspension towers there we’re I can’t get in to, please fire away!! To top off a few weeks hard work researching I went out today and bought a few things after working out what will and won’t fit on a zed. I started with a trip to rare spares and picked up some vents for the new guards that are coming from Alfa Fibreglass (If anyone has experience with them, please PM me, I’d like to know how much work I’m up for with new fiberglass panels, bonnet and hatch). Here is a pic of the vents on the car I salvaged them from: Well I didn’t salvage them from THIS car, but they are off a HK Holden. They are 4 vents and will fit perfectly on the guard on the zed and being period correct is nice. I was thinking about getting some VE HSV vents/indicators but at $1000 a pair I was a bit reluctant! Now, just to work out how to fix a steel plate to a fiberglass panel…. Again, if you have ideas, thoughts are more than welcome! While trying to nut that one out I also worked out which seats will fit in the zed without fouling on the door, the roll cage and will sit central in the cockpit! They would be the Sparco Sprint V, unfortunately, they are as uncomfortable as hell so I picked these up instead: They are the Sparco Ultra (Tec) and are discontinued, but I found a store with a couple in stock so picked them up. The issue with these is that you sit higher than the seat I have, about 2 inches, so a head with a helmet on won’t clear the roof and the roll cage unless it’s solid mounted, but I guess that’s the price to pay to fit a seat central to the steering wheel in a zed with a roll cage. I’m not sure on the weight of the standard seat but the Momo currently acting as the drivers seat weighs 6kg and the new seats weight 7kg each, likely around 10kg less than the standard seat, for a weight saving of about 9kg total. For reference here is a pic of the new seats next to the Momo Rookie that it is replacing. That is it for today. The car comes back on a truck on Wednesday and then I have the daunting task of pulling it to bits, cleaning it and sending it to the sand-blasters to get the shell of the car blasted and the remaining body panels soda blasted. Keep posted.

Welcome! I am in a similar situation (Chem eng grad) and am currently building my dream zed! Get in touch with Martin Falconer (pm me for phone number) as he often gets to know about these things before they come on the market and I'm sure you'll get a ripper car for 20k, rust free at the least!

Hi Chris, I found this source here to be very good: http://www.zcarcreations.com/howto/voltreg.htm I bought an LR170 300zx 70amp model new for about $250 (trade price), same as this one here ( http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-300ZX-Navara-Pathfinder-Pulsar-N13-Alternator-/280531590493?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4150fc5d5d ) and I just need to get a wiring connector from a wrecked 300zx to make it neat cause I don't want dodgy connections. The alternator came with a performance test sheet and allegedly puts out 85amps from 5000rpm upwards, 15-20 amps idle and 24amps at 1800rpm when the regulator kicks in. It will hopefully be much better than the crappy 50amp I have that wont keep a battery charged between race events!

The commodore brake discs are quite thick and so act like a small spacer in themselves, so it should be a good fit. So going to convince myself and order them now, LOVE the stance these things give a zed!

Hey Ross, How did it go? Any photos?

Hi Ben, You seem to be the guru on the wheels and suspension here, so quick question please before I lose motivation! I have a 260z (77 model, so really a 280), standard struts, and want 8" rims. I put commodore brakes on the front and was able to remove a 5mm spacer I used to have to clear the current race 6.5" rims. I used to run a 225 on these rims with no fouling so I rekon a 225 should clear spring perch's. I also have Performance (Ozzie brand) 7" rims on the car with a 225 tyre and they clear everything as well. What would you recommend for best fit under standard guards and spring perch's, Note that I am happy to roll the guards, just not flare! I was gunning for 16x8 +4, but need to clear a 225 tyre, preferably without spacer as I race the car. Thoughts appreciated.